As part of the 52nd KNE-Odigitis Festival, a well-attended event was held to honor the centenary of the birth of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro and to support the Cuban Revolution in the face of challenges posed by threats and the mounting pressure exerted by the US government through an increasingly intensified economic, commercial, financial, and energy blockade.
Aris Evangelidis, a member of the KKE Central Committee, stated that honoring Fidel is inseparable from defending the achievements of the Cuban Revolution and opposing the US blockade. He accused the US of seeking to economically strangle Cuba, destroy its revolutionary gains, and subjugate it to US interests.
The KKE demanded the immediate lifting of the US blockade, the removal of Cuba from the list of alleged state sponsors of terrorism, an end to sanctions against Cuban individuals, institutions, and organizations, and a halt to threats of military aggression against the island.
Cuba's Ambassador to Greece, Aramís Fuente Hernández, thanked the KKE and KNE for their historic solidarity and highlighted that Cuba is facing an unprecedented intensification of the US economic blockade, which includes severe restrictions on energy supplies.
He accused the US government of inflicting collective punishment and attempting by every possible means to trigger a humanitarian crisis, only to then blame socialism for the suffering caused by its own economic warfare. Concluding his remarks, the Cuban ambassador reaffirmed the enduring relevance of the Commander-in-Chief's revolutionary legacy: "Fidel lives on and will continue to inspire the struggles of our peoples. Cuba will prevail. Ever onward to victory!"